To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many security passes which give access to the Palace of Westminster and its associated buildings were issued in each of the last five years, broken down by category; and if he will make a statement. (192535)

Total numbers of passes issued giving access to the Palace of Westminster and its associated outbuildings in each of the last five years are:

The change to the access and pass system meant that new passes were issued to all passholders during 2007. Instead of a misleadingly high figure for 2007, therefore, a figure is given for 2007-08 on the basis of the number of active passes on 13 March 2008.

The information by category is available but is in a format that related to the old pass categories, which no longer exist. Prior to 5 November 2007 there were over 90 categories of pass. With the introduction of the new access control system this number has been substantially reduced.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many (a) males and (b) females, broken down by age group, had their Palace of Westminster pass (i) suspended and (ii) revoked in each year since 1997; and what the reason was in each case. (192540)

Only one Palace of Westminster pass has been revoked since 1997. This revocation was in 2007 and was for reasons of security intelligence.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many members of the press lobby (a) have vehicle passes for the Palace of Westminster and (b) have had their lobby passes removed in the last 10 years. (192596)

Currently 10 members of the press lobby have vehicle passes for the Palace of Westminster. The provision of any future passes is under review.

No lobby passes have been removed in the last 10 years.

To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission on which occasions (a) objects were thrown into the Chamber from the public gallery and (b) the public gallery was closed during a sitting of the House by order of the Speaker in each session since 1977-78. (192616)

Police records only go back as far as 2001. There is one incident recorded which occurred on 21 February 2005. This relates to the Fathers 4 Justice demonstrators who threw purple powder at the Prime Minister during Prime Minister’s Questions. Two persons were arrested and the House was suspended for a short time, including the closure of the public gallery. This is the only recorded closure of the public gallery by order of the Speaker.